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And she kind of liked the new version of her.
She heard the door to the hotel open, and she turned her head to see Noah striding toward her. Her breath caught as she watched his powerful, fluid form. He was intimidatingly big, but he didn’t scare her. He never had. He had a good heart, and from what she’d seen, a soft one.
But that was the only soft thing about him. Her middle clenched deliciously as she ran her eyes up and down his body. He was a mountain of a man, and even from the distance still between them, he made her feel small. Protected and safe.
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And, she couldn’t deny—turned on. He was only walking toward her, and she was turned on.
He came to a stop in front of her, his expression wary as he pulled his ballcap off and resettled it. He still kept his head shaved, she saw, even after all these years. And her palms itched with the need to stroke his beard. She almost did, but damn, it was way too soon to be feeling comfortable enough with him for that.
What in the world had gotten into her?
Clearing his throat, he looked around before exhaling and meeting her gaze. “So, um. I tried to get us two rooms close to each other, but they only have one room. In the whole hotel. Apparently, there’s some sort of festival going on, and they said all the hotels in town are booked up. It has double beds, but if you’re uncomfortable with us sharing, I could sleep in the backseat of the truck and you can have the room.”
Her eyebrows rose and she looked dubiously at the truck. It was a really big vehicle, but he was a really big man, and she couldn’t see that working out well for him. She couldn’t let him sleep out there when there was a perfectly good bed inside that he could use.
She had the newfound awareness and urges toward him she wasn’t used to, but surely she could control herself around him. Right?
Looking back at him, she gave him an impish smile as she shrugged. “I can control myself if you can.”
He sucked in a breath but she was already turning to open the door so she could get her laptop case. Closing her eyes tightly with exasperation directed at herself, she gave her head a little shake.
Why had she said that? She’d just made it obvious that she was attracted to him, and if he didn’t return those sentiments, then she just made him uncomfortable with her. She wouldn’t be surprised at all if he insisted on sleeping in his truck after that.
But Noah didn’t say anything. He walked to the other side of the truck and got their suitcases, and once they’d closed the doors and he’d locked it, he nodded for her to go with him into the hotel.
They were silent as they walked through the lobby to the bank of elevators. She hardly noticed any of it, though, too lost in berating herself to pay attention to her surroundings. They reached the third floor, and he led her to a door, setting the suitcases on the floor and digging the keycards out of his pocket.
He handed one to her, finally speaking as he turned to unlock the door. “Just because of the nature of the visit, I’d prefer us to stay together as much as possible, but you still need a key.”
She arched an eyebrow over the stilted tone of his words, gazing at him as he held the door open and gestured her through. Her shoulders deflated as she walked through the archway, flipping the light switches as she went.
Gasping, she looked around the spacious room, taking in how soft and new everything looked. It was a really nice room, and she realized she hadn’t even paid attention to what hotel they were staying at. Flipping the key over in her hand, her eyebrows rose when she saw the logo.
“The Marriot? Fancy.”
He shrugged as he looked around the room. “We always stay at a Marriot. They said it was just remodeled a couple months ago, too. Which bed would you prefer?”
Narrowing her eyes, she watched him closely, but he never looked in her direction. Way to screw it up on the first go, Lily.
“The one by the window, if that’s okay.”
He nodded silently as he sat her suitcase gently down on the bed. He turned and did the same with his own on his bed, and then stood there for a minute. “You up for pizza? I see a list of delivery places on the bedside table.”
“Noah, wait. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable with what I said. I meant it as a joke, but you might not be attracted to me like I am to you, so what I said could have been very bad, and—”
She broke off as he spun toward her, and she could see his eyebrows were raised even though he still had his ballcap on. His light green eyes took on a glow as he studied her, and she frowned as she heard a sound.
“Is that a purr? Is there a cat around?” she asked with confusion, looking around the room.
The sound cut off and Noah shook his head as he cleared his throat, moving until he was just in front of her. “You’re attracted me?”
“Good, I guess I wasn’t obvious about it,” she joked weakly. She wasn’t sure she was ready for this conversation, but she guessed they were having it anyway. “Yeah, I am. It’s been pretty strong since I got to Nevada, but it felt like it amplified during the drive here. It’s okay if you don’t feel it. I shouldn’t have—”
His hand raised and he skimmed the backs of his fingers down her cheek, causing a shiver of heat to dance up her spine. “I feel it, Lily. Believe me, I feel it. I always have.”
Her heart skipped a beat at his words, and then they sunk it. “What do you mean by always, Noah?”
